Novel hydrophilic copolymers and contact lenses made therefrom are disclosed in copending application Ser. No. 647,634, filed Jan. 8, 1976, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,028,295, by one of the inventors herein. The copolymers consist essentially of a diester-free glycol monoester of acrylic or methacrylic acid and a comonomer having the formula: ##STR2## where R is a C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 straight or branched chain alkoxy group, R' is a C.sub.2 to C.sub.3 straight or branched chain alkylene group, X is hydrogen or a methyl group, m is either 1 or 0, and n is an integer from 1 to 20. These hydrophilic polymers in the dry state are formed into contact lenses which are then hydrated to produce the hydrated soft contact lenses of that invention. These hydrated contact lenses are very satisfactory and of reasonable clarity, as measured by a visible light transmission of 90-92%, and occasionally, but unpredictably, are of higher clarity as, for example, 96%. It has not been possible to consistently make hydrophilic copolymers and hydrophilic contact lenses made therefrom which have very high optical clarity; i.e., which consistently give visible light transmissions in excess of 94% at 400 nanometers and, most suitably, in the range of 96 to 98%.